If you're going cam only I'd suggest a bigger cam, if you're doing budget heads and cam setup then I'd say go hot cam. Or you can go hot cam only, as long as you're content with it and happy that's all that matters really. Ed Curtis has a 224/228 on a 111 LSA that would be perfect for you honestly, it isn't hard on springs, runs well in a stock cubed car, and it flat out works. It doesn't need a huge stall either, he even has a smaller 220/224 111 LSA that would be awesome as well, just some food for thought, I know choosing a cam is a long and arduous process.

 

IMO, any cam worth you time, effort, and money will need or benefit from a higher stall TC. I'd go with at least a 3k stall with the GM Hot Cam. BTW there's plenty of cams around the same size that offer more power, and still have fairly mild cam lobes which will be easy on the valvetrain.

FYI,
Don't let the lift scare you away, the lift doesn't make the cam aggressive the ramp rates do.
http://www.mcssl.com/store/cammotion/the-titan1
http://www.mcssl.com/store/cammotion/the-titan2
http://www.mcssl.com/store/cammotion/street-slayer

http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...e-rpm-220-224/
http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...-lift-222-224/
http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...20-220-112lsa/
http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...oducts_id=4640

 

Thanks for a whole lot of very useful info! Like I said the GM Hot Cam was about keeping it GM. However with what you & others are saying, its looking like for the goals intended there are better cam choices out there. One question I have for you. With the cam your suggesting, the 3200 stall speed and those 3.23 gears, do you have rough idea of what kind of highway MPG could be expected?

 

There will not be any aftermarket heads in the near future. Maybe down the road but for now, not in the books.

 

Thanks for the info. As I said above, I am beginning to see there probable better choices out there than the Hot Cam. Consideration has been opened up to other choices besides the Hot Cam.

 

Highway will never depend on the stall with just the cam it will probably be very minimal. I actually lost nothing on the hwy after my cam swap because I got a better tune. A converter will only effect city mpg and with the cam you'll probably lose 1-2 depending on traffic. A stall only effects city because its not into lockup. Once over 40 mph the converter locks to the driveline and will have the same characteristics of stock.

And yes there are many better choices than the hot cam. I titan 2 or streetslayer above would also be a nice choice for what you want. Just keep poking around choose what size you think you want and then go one step bigger lol

 

Thanks for that info.
"Just keep poking around choose what size you think you want and then go one step bigger lol"

Is that kind of like a car too fast? No such thing? LOL

 

Oh forgot to say that while a DiabloSport Predator is being used, that will most likely be put aside. Have a friend who knows his way around the F-Bodies with HP Tuners.

 

I have ran all kinds of cams on LS engines since they first came out. The one thing almost all aftermarket cams require is replacing valve at regular mileage intervals. I prefer slam hood and leave it alone performance parts and that is what you get going with gm designed parts. Yes there are bigger and better cams out there but they come with a trade off you cant beat OEM R&D and product development and part validation no matter how you stack it .

Yours being a A4 your first stop needs to be a converter a converter will add a world of difference especially with crap 3:23 gears even on a stock cam. Sticking a large cam on a stock converter will yield a car that sounds good but is a complete dog out of the hole and even for daily driving until you can get enough rpm built up. 3:23's with converter is tolerable if you dont want to change them.

I say go with hotcam it sounds like for the way you intend on using your car it will be about right and when tuned correctly they are great I've had several and liked them. If you look in my sig I'm running a GM ASA cam in my car and love it. And I don't have to worry about valvetrain reliability.

Order you go is
converter
gears
cam

 

I agree very much so on the stall however not so much on the cam. Modern cams and springs can be just as reliable as an oem setup when configured properly. People who suffer valvetrain instability are usually running heavy stainless vavles HARD LSK or XER lobes and then using stock lifters and just an ok spring.

Keep the valvetrain light and match your springs with the cam and you'll see many trouble free miles. No matter what cam I go with I would always check my springs at 30k even the hotcam has more aggressive lobes than stock and offers larger duration. And even so it takes all of an hr to pop off a spring and have it checked.

With .525 lift its also leaving a good chunk of power on the table, modern cams like eps offer almost the same ramp rate to be easy on springs but will make much more power and drive better given similar duration.

Sorry if any of that sounded like I was being a dick :/ just stating for what the op wants he can do much better than a hotcam and not really lose anything but actually gain power and driveability over it.

 

gears will yield you nothing performance wise but will help with drivability if you get a large stall

 

agree^^ I would skip gears all together. 3.23's are fine with a stall not worth the 500 to go to 3.73's not to mention you keep your gas mileage on the hwy

 

The 3.23's are staying. Don't see them as being that bad. Better than 3.08's or way crappier 2.73's. Personally I think they are about right for an A4 car. Yea 3.42's would probable be best for an A4 car driven on the street mostly but to make that small a change from the 3.23's is hard to see it as money well spent.

 

Get a good stall first...I have a custom FTI 3800 and it is soooo much better then the stock converter. Drives really nice, only takes around 2k rpm to get moving with traffic.

 

I would consider the stall way before a cam, and of course both at the same time would be nice if the option is there for you.

 

OK, I am bumping this for a little more feed back. After talking on here and with a friend who is also a member on here, the decision to use something other than the GM Hot Cam has been made. I had also mentioned a stall converter. Of lower RPM than what most everyone here was saying to go with. The decision has been made to also up the stall speed that will be used. As I said this is a project for the next coming winter. Right now the focus is brakes and tires.

I know some cams have be recommended here. Will probable be getting a converter with a stall speed of around 3200 PRM. Will the recommended cams work good with that? Or should I maybe consider different cams with regards to the stall speed? Again this is a street driven car that will only see the track every now and then. The goal is NOT a full blown race car but something that is reasonable to drive on the street and can run respectfully when taken to the track on occasion.

 

A buddy of mine ran 11.9's in a full weight WS-6 with i want to say a 3000 stall, TR 224, LT's, and drag radials. He drove it a ton. That was probably 10 years ago. Lot more options now.

 

Here's another cam similar to the EPS, but with milder LXL lobes and a 111lsa which would work great with TC stall of 3200.
Go with the milder version(222/226, LSA111+2, .602"/.605") it also has 2* overlap.
http://www.tickperformance.com/tick-...1-ls6-engines/

 

I agree a 3200 stall will work just fine. A 3600 would be even better and not give up much in driveability however circle d makes a nice budget 3200 for 400 bucks that would work just fine with any of those cams.

 

EPS 222/226 on a 115 gets my vote. Mild idle, "stock" like driveability, and makes power all over.

This is in a LS6 long block but you get the picture.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/dynamomet...k-results.html

If you're looking for a good budget converter look into the Edge "Street" series.